Tuesday, June 17

I've always thought as Art as a form of fashion. Throughout my education, fashion design has been catagorised under the subject art, and i have continued to study it this way. However, over at TIME magazine they have an article against my view, and has made me rather optimistic about the whole prospect of the fashion/art debate. Jeff Chu says:

"while fashion may be artsy, artistic, artful, enjoying an art-infused moment and even (gasp!) influential in certain art circles, it's not art."

But surely if fashion is so thouroughly linked to the arta, shouldn't it be a form in its own right?

Ingrid Sisley, creator of the Florence Biennale show 1996, states "The conventional wisdom was that fashion was the enemy of art." Which is an odd concept seeing as art has played such a major role in many of the major designers collections for S/S '08.

(artistic prints at chanel + luella)

This season more than ever, the art and fashion world has started to merge together like never before. Summer stated the return of the print, whether it be stars at chanel, Florals at Luella or the-soon-to-become-iconic balenciaga print. Im sure not many people will argue with the artistic aspects of Prada's S/S '08 collection, following up from the online inspiration video, Trembled Blossoms. The charming pixie print was created by artist James Jean, who also has worked in the art industry (specialising in captivating paintings of mythical/fairy-like charachters) since 1999.

(picture sources jamesdean.com)Another collection that has formed a solid link with the art world is Viktor + Rolf, whom's fashion designs are more a work of art than something you could bung on to go to the corner shop. Recently the fashion duo have opened an exhibition at an art gallery (barbrican)to showcase some of their more influential peices. A good point is that fashion is often included in art galleries, and are some of the most popular exhibitions are those which link to the world of fashion, and I know i love my visits to the V&A's Fashion Through The Ages gallery, in which they have fascinating talks and lectures about the history of fashion, aswell as the links to art.

(Balenciaga's structured suits have been strongly linked to the world of archiatechture and was mentioned in Vogue June. Balenciaga, Viktor + Rolf S/S '08.)

A final word is that i do believe that fashion is very similar to art. I see fashion as very visual (well, who would shop with their eyes closed?), and i also apply this to art. They are both subjects I very much enjoy, and i hope one day the art world will recognise fashion for the wonderful art form it should be classified as.

Fashion as art or not? I honestly believe it depends on the clothes. Couture is art, I mean the fact that it takes a certain person to pull it off (average Jane looks like a hedge whilst wearing one) is kind of like how some art just doesn't speak to others. Plus its so exquistely crafted, there is enough labor in couture to say its art, esp since some "art" is blue paint or something equally nuts thrown on a canvas.

There are also some lines that are much more artsy than others- Rodarte has magnificent detail, Balenciaga has such strcuture, Chanel has such rich layers...

And it can be looked at as certain designers managing to invent whole new concepts we now can't live without- Valentino- Red, Coco-lbd, YSL- le smoking...Picasso- cubism, Monet- impressionism, sound similar?

Lastly, there's the way people wear fashion that can make it art

and fashion often takes note from art- ie Marc Jacobs surrealist shoes, Dolce & Gabanna's painted florals this year...so why can't it be reciprocated, fashion as art is definitely not an insult, true not all is art, but a lot of fashion is

I think of it as an art form, although it doesn't have the permanence that I think of in 'regular' art. I think the real reason one might think of it as anti-art is because of the commercialism of it all- art that is commercial is called design, which I think fits fashion better than calling it art. Great post!

You point out here the eternal debate. I do think fashion is art, but I must be clear here, Zara "fashion" is not art, ok, but Haute Couture, who can even discuss is not art? they spend months doing one dress, which could be consider as the canvas in which artists reflect their feelings. They cannot deny that!!

I always wonder if Fashion is art. But in a recentcovnersation I had with someone who could careless for Fashion it dawned on me that it IS art. It's about self-expression and isn't that what art really is?

Such a great post my dear! I'm interning at first30days.com. It's amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better first internship. The ladies are teaching me a lot about journalism.

hmm... first thing off i want to say i love the way your post titles always look.

well, i've never quite thought about the subject of fashion and art. couture is art, surely (especially viktor&rolf's), but i don't know if the things we wear every day are art, because - let's be practical - they are objects of use, aren't they? but now i think of it...you're right. fashion is art. while fahsion's use is to cover us, it also has the purpose of being decorative and attractive - and is in principle the same kind of art my dad creates (he makes all kinds of calendars and clocks out of wood (you can see his work on www.cejp.de) and those have a purpose too - to show the time - but mainly they should just look interesting). oh, and in florence they have a museum with a fashion thru the ages department too - i loved it, but unfortunately i can't remember which museum it was.

and you're right, fashion is very visual. this argument of yours was the one which finally convinced me that fashion is art.

Fashion is totally art related. Definitely agree with you about fashion being visual. Floral prints, geometric prints...they're all because of art.And there's so much art in the structure of the clothes, too...just like Balenciaga and Chanel.

I agree -- I've always seen fashion as an art form, because simply, well, how could it no be? The definition of art is:"the products of human creativity; works of art collectively"Fashion is exactly this, if not more, right?Anyone who claims fashion isn't art is just afraid of accepting the fact that it is, because they would feel that including fashion in the Art category somehow cheapens the definition/makes it less special.

As someone who adores clothes and the skill of dressing, fashion certainly an art in my eyes. I think what is interesting is that fashion was believed to be the enemy of art. This all comes down to people's definition of fashion. Traditionally fashion is following the crowd, so to speak and with this definition it contradicts the free spirited nature of art. However, personally i believe this is the defintion of people who can't appreciate the beauty of clothes and acknowledge the wonder of dressing well and expressing your self through what you wear. For me fashion is a celebration of beauty and the art of dressing and therefore is certainly an art form. And please don't let these pretentious journos say that people like john galliano or vivienne westwood are not artists.

everyone seems to be confusing art with craft. Fashion is a craft, but it is not an art. Art is predominantly just for it's own sake, a pure medium of expression disconnected from commercial concerns.

Fashion has a purpose (to be worn)and is commercial, even if it sometimes seems a little separated from this due to wearability. It can be termed as "an art" or part of "the arts", in the same way as other forms of design, but it is not strictly speaking art itself.

[color=#808080]Nice post! thank you for sharing this information. fashionyou.blogspot.com really got under my[/color] [url=http://nuscin-online.info]skin,[/url] [color=#808080]bookmarked... Keep up the great site...[/color]

A style does not go out of style as long as it adapts itself to its period. When there is an incompatibility between the style and a certain state of mind, it is never the style that triumphs. - Coco Chanel.

MOLLY

im a simple girl really. give me some chewits and a magazine and i'll love you forever. i pretty much spend all of my time working on my 'education', but other than that i'll be shopping or sleeping.